Schulz’s Franklin opened the door to more inclusive ‘Peanuts’

For the first 18 years of the “Peanuts” comic strip — from 1950 until 1968 — all the characters looked mostly the same: They were all white kids.

Then, with the nation battling civil unrest, a cartoon boy named Franklin changed everything.

The mild-mannered Franklin character came onto the scene quietly to join the “Peanuts” kids when creator Charles Schulz introduced him by having Franklin return Charlie Brown’s ball one day on the beach. With that encounter, Franklin became the first Black character in the history of the “Peanuts” comic strip.

Initially, the move was controversial for some — particularly in Southern states, which were grappling with segregation. And this was downright revolutionary. But for Schulz himself, and for Black readers of the comic strip, Franklin’s arrival marked a new era, and a big first step toward increased representation in the cartoon pages every week.

“Inclusion was a big part of (Schulz’) reasoning for including Franklin,” said Benjamin Clark, curator of the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center in Santa Rosa. “Schulz used to think of characters in a comic strip like keys on a piano, and Franklin was a necessary note on that keyboard.”

Sparking the idea for Franklin

Franklin’s story began in early 1968 with a letter from a Los Angeles schoolteacher.

That teacher, Harriet Glickman, wrote a letter to Schulz after the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and told the cartoonist she thought “Peanuts” could help influence the nation’s attitudes on race. Specifically, she noted that the introduction of Black characters into the “Peanuts” comic strip could help change the "vast sea of misunderstanding, fear, hate and violence."

According to Clark, the schoolteacher’s letter was timely.

Schulz had been thinking about adding a Black character to the strip for years, but Schulz was concerned that doing so would be seen as “patronizing.” After much introspection and consideration, Schulz decided it was worth a shot. Later that year, on July 31, 1968, Franklin was born.

Franklin appeared in hundreds of Peanuts comic strips over the years, always coming off as a voice of reason. Linus was obsessed with the Great Pumpkin, Snoopy flew his doghouse and Franklin found it odd. While other characters did zany things, Franklin quoted the Old Testament.

Eventually, Franklin and Charlie Brown became quite close, and would talk about their grandfathers.

Clark remarked that he always thought of Franklin as a “stabilizing force” in the face of the drama and absurdity other characters brought to the mix.

“All of the other ‘Peanut’s characters could thrust a conversation into wild directions— they were outlandish, and that’s what made them lovable,” Clark said. “Franklin was just very normal. It was almost like he was a stand-in for the reader. He loved the other characters and he found them peculiar. In him we were able to see ourselves.”

Clark emphasized the importance of Schulz portraying Franklin as a “normal kid,” and celebrated how tirelessly Schulz worked to establish trust between the two boys.

To Clark, this seemed like an effort to help readers sympathize with Franklin and accept him.

“Every character was a little bit of Schulz himself and Franklin was no different — they all represented his way of sharing himself with the world as an artist,” said Clark. “What’s remarkable to me is that he did that through a character who was unthinkable of adding to the comic pages for so long.”

Past, present opinions on Franklin

‘Peanuts’ devotees had mixed feelings about Franklin. Many welcomed him into the pantheon of ‘Peanuts’ characters immediately. Others — especially those in the South — were far less willing to accept him. In the early 1970s, when Schulz published a strip with Franklin and Peppermint Patty in school together, several newspaper editors expressed outrage and demanded Schulz reconsider.

Clark said the cartoonist’s response was downright radical — especially for the traditionally mild-mannered Schulz.

“They essentially told him, ‘(Having Franklin and Peppermint Patty in school together) isn’t going to work for us down here,’” Clark said. “Schulz was having none of it. He replied, ‘You either print it that way or you don’t print it at all.’ Some of them didn’t print it. That didn’t seem to faze him at all.”

Reactions among Black audiences were mixed, too.

Comedian Chris Rock mocked Schulz for tokenism. Other Black celebrities criticized the decision as racist.

Malia Anderson, a fashion consultant in Santa Rosa, said while she appreciated seeing a character who looked more like her, she also felt that incorporating one Black character felt a bit unfair.

“As kids we just wanted to see someone who looked like us; we didn’t know anything about inclusion,” said Anderson, who is Black. “It wasn’t until I got older (that) I realized I was Franklin — the token Black kid in a group of white friends.”

For Robb Armstrong, a Black man who grew up idolizing the ‘Peanuts’ cartoon, has a different perspective. He was honored to see Franklin join the cast of his favorite comic strip. Armstrong said Franklin’s inclusion inspired him to grow up and become a cartoonist. Later, in 1989, Armstrong created his own comic strip about a young Black couple and their kids.

That comic, “Jump Start,” has become the most widely syndicated daily comic strip by an African American cartoonist anywhere in the world.

“For me the timing of Franklin’s appearance had great personal significance,” Armstrong said. “I was six years old, Dr. King had just been killed, I was feeling hopeless and then all of a sudden it was like, ‘Charlie Brown got a Black friend? ‘Peanuts’ is now a Black strip!’ Everything seemed like it would be OK.”

Coming full circle

The story about Franklin’s influence on Armstrong gets even better.

After Armstrong launched Jump Start, he shared it with Schulz and the two men became friends. Over the years their friendship grew on a foundation of mutual respect.

In late 1993, Schulz was working to create a ‘Peanuts’ television special titled, “You’re in the Super Bowl, Charlie Brown.” At one point in the special, a public address announcer was going to introduce the characters by their first and last names. The problem: Franklin didn’t have a surname.

As Clark tells it, Schulz thought long and hard about how to solve this problem, then realized he knew exactly what he had to do. So he called Armstrong down in Los Angeles and asked the young cartoonist how he’d feel if Franklin’s last name was Armstrong. Armstrong remembered being flattered and nearly rendered speechless by the request.

“It occurred to me in the moment that what he was saying was, ‘My character needs a last name and yours is perfect for him,’” Armstrong said. “It was the ultimate respect. It was huge. In that moment I felt the dude loved me. It was and remains a tremendous honor.”

Today the human Armstrong is carrying on the spirit of Franklin’s legacy in two main ways.

First, Jump Start is still syndicated (though not currently by this paper), and is currently being adapted for television as a situational comedy.

Second, earlier this year, Peanuts Worldwide launched The Armstrong Project, establishing two $100,000 endowments at Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia and Howard University in Washington, D.C . Each endowment includes an annual scholarship to students studying either arts, communications, animation or entertainment. The Armstrong Project also will ensure mentorship and internship opportunities for students at companies in entertainment fields.